This invention involves an automatic stirring apparatus, and more particularly, an apparatus for stirring food such as gravy, puddings, or sauces.
It is well-established that many recipes require almost continuous stirring while the liquid is being cooked. For example, the preparations of puddings and sauces, the ingredients are placed in a saucepan or other utensil and cooked for a period of time for thickening during which they must be constantly stirred to avoid scorching and checked frequently to prevent the contents from boiling over. Many sauces and soups must be slowly heated to avoid scalding or burning at the bottom, particularly when they are prepared with milk which develops unpleasant characteristics if they are not properly prepared. A slow and continuous stirring of the foods may produce a smooth product rather than one that is lumpy or contains lumps of overheated or scalded skin formation. In particular, preparation of gravy, such as meat based spaghetti sauce requires an extremely long cooking time and the constant stirring requirements are a drudgery.
There is a need for an effective stirring apparatus that will allow the preparer to take care of other tasks while the gravy is being stirred.
A number of devices have been described in United States Patents directed to the general need for stirring pots with varying degrees of success. U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,685 to Stephens describes a battery operated stirring unit for saucepans includes a vertical stirring shift with a crossbar stirrer to which diagonally positioned stirring blades extend downwardly to stir the sauce. The stirring shaft of Stephens includes a spring to bias the stirrer downwardly to adjust to the size of the pan. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,605 to Lambert, an electrically powered stirrer for cooking vessels rests on the rim of the pan and utilizes diagonally adjusted paddles for stirring the sauce. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,184,779 to Detmer, a stirring device which rests on the upper edge of the pan utilizes an adjustable length horizontal agitator blade. The stirring apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,992 to Hurland, fits on the top rim of a cooking pot and employs a paddle revolving on a vertical shift. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,128,083 to Blair, an agitator for plaster making kettles is described wherein the agitator is designed to conform to a convex bottom of the kettle and is constructed of a plurality of cast iron agitator blocks or beads threaded loosely on a cable pulled through the plaster by the blade. The beads are threaded and rotateable on the cables and are positioned closely together to semi-stiffen the flexible cable to that it will maintain the converted configuration. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,849 to Kritikson, a cooking utensil stirrer employees pivotable horizontal feet with a cross spring secured around the feet to act as a stirrer. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,805,843 to Block, a stirring apparatus that clamps onto the edge of a cooking pot employees a horizontal stirring blade with depending teeth. The attachment for washtubs described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,983,788 to Brennan, utilizes a vertical shaft with a vertically positioned agitator blade. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,672 to Kromhout, et al, a dry diatomaceous earth feeding apparatus includes a fairly heavy chain which hangs vertically from the outer end of a radius arm close to the side wall of the container to ensure sweeping all material from the side wall and from the funnel-shaped bottom of the container. The chain is wrapped around the shaft to form an auger disposed vertically to aid in the feeding of the earth. The cooker and mixer apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,792 to Neared, utilizes four paddles attached to a central rotating hub. The automatic stirring device described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,263 to Teng, with a spring loaded telescoping vertical shaft to which stirring blades are attached.
None of these devices totally satisfy the needs described above nor attains the objects described herein below.